Will the real Daeron Targaryen please stand up? House of the Dragon introduced a new member of the Targaryen family, and there is much to discuss! Here’s what you need to know about Daeron Targaryen, the youngest son of Queen Alicent (Olivia Cooke) on House of the Dragon.
In season 3, episode 3 of the HBO series, Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) demands that Ormund Hightower hand over his ward named Daeron Targaryen—who happens to also be Daemon’s nephew. (If this show wasn’t already testing you with how similar the names are in this incestuous...) Who’s this now?? Aren’t there enough blondes?!
Why haven’t we seen Daeron yet on House of the Dragon until now?
Daeron is Alicent Hightower and Viserys Targaryen’s youngest son. That also means he’s Aegon, Aemond, and Helaena’s little brother. He has a dragon. He has been living and studying in Oldtown and additionally working as Ormund’s squire and cupbearer. For a while, fans of Fire and Blood thought that the show had eliminated him from the adaptation entirely. But then a few sporadic mentions confirmed that he was just out of town. It’s kind of like how Francesca would randomly be in Bath for long stretches on Bridgerton.
In episode 3, after surrendering to Daemon, Ormund produces a blonde, Targaryen-y-looking kid and sends him off as a hostage. This sweet child, who honestly looks a lot like a miniature Helaena, is very scared when he arrives at King’s Landing. Queen Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) tries to get information out of him about what Ormund knows and could be plotting, as well as Aegon’s whereabouts. She then takes the boy to Alicent, hoping that seeing his mother will help the situation. But she doesn’t recognize him at all.
Guess what? It’s not Daeron. Ormund bleached a random kid’s hair and sent him to pretend to be the littlest Green Targaryen. If it wasn’t already clear, James Norton’s character is clearly this season’s Big Bad.
Sidebar: since when does Westeros have access to bleach? This is brand new information! I feel like that might have changed Robert’s Rebellion a bit. Anyone could have pretended to be Daenerys or her brother (also named Viserys) and challenged House Baratheon for the throne. It could have been even more of an Anastasia situation than it already was. Whatever! Maybe they lost all of the bleach—or natural hair-lightening agents like lemon juice—when they lost all of the dragons.
When did we first see the real Daeron on House of the Dragon?
Daeron was briefly in the background of a previous scene in episode 1. If you go back to Ormund’s smarmy entrance (above), you can see a young teenager standing behind him. That’s him! Glad we can officially confirm that now. He’s played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth.
Episode 4 revealed a lot about his character.
Alicent says to Rhaenyra in episode 4 that she’s happy she sent Daeron to Oldtown because the two sons she raised in the Red Keep are (my words, not hers) super messed up. But in learning more about Daeron’s life with Ormund, his upbringing doesn’t seem like it was too peachy, either. Ormund seems verbally abusive, if not physically abusive. When Ormund finds Daeron in the Sept with Tessarion, Tessarion seems very protective of Daeron, like he’s sensing his rider’s fear. This does not seem like a loving relationship between an uncle and a nephew. I mean, it’s pretty messed up to make your nephew kill someone just to demonstrate power.
Ormund clearly sees Daeron as a tool to raise himself up, especially in the absence of Aegon and Aemond. He’s backing his candidate, but at what cost? Daeron is a claimant to the throne with a dragon, aka he has a huge target on his back. We’ll have to wait to see what happens.
